This report was last published in April 2024.
National context
On 4 July 2024 the UK held a general election and the Labour party was elected, replacing the previous Conservative government. Shortly after the election, UNHCR made several recommendations to the new government, including restoring access to the asylum system, reforming the asylum system, scaling up resettlement and investing in refugee integration.[1]
International protection
- Key asylum statistics: 108,138 people applied for asylum in the UK in 2024 (main applicants and their dependants), including 8,508 from Afghanistan and 8.099 from Iran. 19% of applicants were children (both accompanied and unaccompanied) and 71% were men and boys. Recognition rate at first instance was 47%, a large drop from 67% in 2023. There were 124,802 people still waiting for a decision at the end of 2024. (see Statistics).
- Asylum processing restarts for all cases: processing of asylum claims had almost completely stalled under the previous government because of the applicability of the inadmissibility procedure set out in the Illegal Migration Act 2023, which prohibited many people from being granted leave. The Home Office did not have an effective triage system in place to determine who may still be entitled to a grant of leave, and so the backlog of claims was growing at a high rate. The new government laid regulations[2] on 23 July 2024 that came into force with immediate effect that removed the ban on granting leave and meant that claims started being processed again.
- The end of the Rwanda plan: a legal challenge to the Rwanda plan was due to start on the Tuesday after the general election. The new government’s lawyers confirmed to the court that they did not intend to send any flights to Rwanda and they settled the three individual cases.[3] A further challenge to the Safety of Rwanda Act continued, and was finally settled in January 2025 after the government confirmed its intention to repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act.[4]
- The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 to be repealed: on 30 January 2025 the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill was introduced to parliament. This Bill will repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act as well as some sections of the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
Asylum procedure
- Access to the procedure: In 2024 36,816 people arrived in the UK by small boat which was an increase from 29,437 people in 2023. In 2023 it was estimated that 19 people died trying to cross the Channel to the UK[5] and in 2024 at least 82 deaths were reported, including a record number of children.[6] The number of deaths has increased proportionately substantially more than the number of arrivals, as journeys become more dangerous. (see Access to the procedure).
- Increase in rejections of Afghan claims: In 2024 the protection grant rate for Afghan nationals fell to 59% at first instance, down from 99% in 2023. (see Statistics).
Reception conditions
- Use of alternative accommodation sites: in July 2024 the new government announced that the Bibby Stockholm, a barge being used as asylum accommodation, would be closed. This took place in January 2025. In March it was announced that the repurposed military barracks at Napier would no longer be used as asylum accommodation from September 2025 (see Types of accommodation).
- Unaccompanied children in short-term holding facilities in northern France: In 2024, it was reported that from January 2022 to October 2023 there were 369 unaccompanied children held in the UK run facilities in France. An inspection in November 2024 found that some of the facilities were in poor condition, there were safeguarding issues and that two children had been re-trafficked from the centres.
- Detention conditions: reports by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons in 2024 overall described a trend of a “worrying deterioration in safety” across all of the immigration removal centres. The Jesuit Refugee Service also express serious concerns in a 2024 report, reporting inappropriate segregation, large deficiencies in healthcare provision and safeguards for vulnerable people, excessive and inappropriate use of force and a staffing culture of abuse and humiliation.
Detention of asylum seekers
- Number of people detained continues to rise: In 2024, 20,604 people were detained under immigration powers, an increase from 15,864 in 2023. These were not all people who were claiming or had previously claimed asylum (see Detention).
Content of international protection
- Pause on consideration of Syrian applications for settlement: in December 2024 following the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, the Home Office paused consideration of applications for settlement from Syrian refugees reaching the end of their five years of refugee leave[7] (see Cessation and review).
- Improvements in exiting asylum accommodation: in August 2023, non-public change in policy regarding the timeline for beneficiaries of protection to exist asylum accommodation led to a 223% increase in people sleeping rough after leaving asylum housing. This policy change was later reversed. The period July to September 2024 showed huge decreases in people being put at risk of homelessness because of being required to leave asylum accommodation, compared with the same period the previous year. In November 2024 a pilot scheme was announced to temporarily extend the move on period to 56 days (as opposed to 28) starting on 9 December 2024 and due to end in June 2025.
UK Ukraine Visa Support
The information given hereafter constitute a short summary of the 2024 Report on UK Ukraine visa support, for further information, see Annex on UK Ukraine visa support.
Eligibility and procedure
- Ukraine Family Scheme: persons eligible under this scheme had to be joining a family member or an extended family member who had to be a UK citizen or have settled, EEA pre-settled status or beneficiary of refugee status/humanitarian protection. Non-Ukrainians could only benefit from this scheme insofar as they were immediate family members for another applicant who is Ukrainian. There was no fee for the visa. The scheme was closed without advance notice on 19 February 2024.
- Homes for Ukraine: this programme aims to match Ukrainian applicants and their immediate family (who may be Ukrainian or of another nationality) with UK based individual sponsors who, since 19 February 2024, must be British citizens or have permanent residence in the UK. On 31 January 2025 it was announced that a parent (or legal guardian) who has been granted leave under any of the Ukrainian schemes is eligible to sponsor their child under the Home for Ukraine scheme.[8] The visa does not entail a fee. People have to apply from outside the UK.
- Ukraine Extension Scheme: This scheme was available to Ukrainians who previously held permission to be in the UK and that permission expired on or after 1 January 2022 or who held permission to be in the UK on or between 18 March 2022 and 16 November 2023 – the permission does not need to cover the whole period. The scheme closed to new applications on 16 May 2024, with the exception of children born in the UK to parents with leave granted under Appendix Ukraine. The scheme closed in its entirety on 4 February 2025 and was replaced with the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme.
- Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme: From 4 February 2025, those with leave granted under any of the Ukraine schemes can apply to extend their leave for a further 18 months when they are within the last 28 days of their leave. This is a free application.[9]
Rights associated with status
- Residence permit: upon arrival in the UK, persons receive a biometric residence permit or an eVisa. All schemes initially offered three-year visas. As of 19 February 2024, this was reduced to 18 months for successful applicants to the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
- Labour market, social welfare and health care: all beneficiaries have access to work and all public funds, as they are exempt from the habitual residence test which usually restricts access n the first months after arrival. They are not required to pay the surcharge usually applied to visa beneficiaries to access healthcare via the NHS.
- Housing: The government surveyed sponsors in August 2023 and published experimental statistics which showed that around half (48%) of hosts had provided accommodation for 12 months or more. Almost all (99%) believed that their guests needed help to access private rental accommodation or to make other independent living arrangements. 31% of hosts reported bias or discrimination against Ukrainians by landlord or estate agencies.[10]
- Financial support for hosts: Hosts in the Homes for Ukraine receive £350 per week as a ‘thank you’ payment for the first 12 months, increased to £500 after the first year, up to a maximum of two years. The local authority also receives funding for each arrival.
The information given hereafter constitute a short summary of the 2024 Report on UK Ukraine visa support, for further information, see Annex on UK Ukraine visa support.
[1] UNHCR, ‘UNHCR’s recommendations to the government of the United Kingdom’, July 2024, available here.
[2] The Illegal Migration Act 2023 (Amendment) Regulations 2024.
[3] Jed Pennington, ‘The Rwanda policy is in its death throes’, Free Movement, 9 July 2024, available here.
[4] Asylum Aid, ‘Press release: Home Secretary informs Asylum Aid about her intentions to repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 in the parliamentary session’, 29 January 2025, available here.
[5] Missing Migrants Project, accessed 24 March 2024, available here.
[6] Diane Taylor, ‘Record number of children died crossing Channel last year, says UN’, The Guardian, 25 February 2025, available here.
[7] Hansard, House of Lords debate: Syrian Asylum Applications, 29 January 2025, available here.
[8] Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, ‘Children being sponsored by a parent or legal guardian: Home for Ukraine’, 31 January 2025, available here.
[9] Home Office, ‘Applying to the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme’, last updated 10 March 2025, available here.
[10] Office for National Statistics, ‘Experiences of Homes for Ukraine scheme sponsors, UK: 10 to 21 August 2023’, 4 October 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/27v2ax7n.